1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle climate control apparatus and an air-conditioning control method capable of adjusting the air-conditioning state by estimating the intention of the driver from his driving behavior at an early time.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, a technique is known to secure the engine acceleration characteristic by reducing the load of an air-conditioning compressor on the vehicle engine (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-285618, for example). In the vehicle climate control apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-285618, an acceleration is determined and the compressor is stopped or the compressor capacity is reduced in the case where the acceleration pedal angle actually exceeds a threshold value.
Also in the case where the engine load is increased such as when ascending a slope or at a merging point, the compressor load of the climate control apparatus is imposed directly on the engine and is liable to adversely affect the drive feeling until the actual acceleration pedal angle exceeds a predetermined threshold value. This is also the case with a vehicle such as a hybrid car using the motor as a power source. Specifically, with an increase in the load on the power source, the electrical load of the electrically operated compressor of the climate control apparatus is imposed directly on the on-vehicle power supply with the result that the power supply may be overloaded. Once the on-vehicle power supply is overloaded, the motor output is reduced and the drive feeling may be adversely affected.